Hi everyone! Hope your February has been great so far! In this week’s tutorial, we’re creating some cute cat and pug themed valentines. These aren’t just your typical Valentine though, they have a special large pocket to hold whatever you’d like, such as candy or small gifts! These would also work for other occasions besides Valentine’s day.

My original design evolved a lot to become this final version. I haven’t seen anything quite like it with the pocket, and I think it turned out really fun! Sometimes running into challenges will help you create something better than what you originally had in mind.

Also, since my YouTube channel was originally named for my old pug, Mischief, it didn’t seem right that I have never done a single pug themed craft before. So we’re fixing that today 🙂

Last year’s Paper Heart Gift Box has been one of my most popular tutorials, so this year I’m back with another paper heart shaped box! This one is much easier and quicker to make, so if you didn’t feel the other one was right for you, this may be a better fit.

In this video tutorial, you’ll learn to create this heart shaped basket out of paper!

It is a bit more difficult than my other basket tutorial, but definitely still do-able! It is perfect as a Valentine’s Day gift or for other occasions that you want to show your love and appreciation for someone.

Time needed: ~1 hour

Difficulty: Intermediate

Materials:

paper (card stock or construction paper, or anything a bit heavier than regular paper, is best)

the glue of your choice (personally, I prefer hot glue for these kind of projects)

In this video tutorial, you’ll learn to make a friendship bracelet with a heart design. This bracelet uses 3 colors – one for the outline of the heart, one for the inside of the heart, and one for the stripe between hearts.

The image below is the pattern for the bracelet I made in the video. If you are pretty familiar with making friendship bracelets, you’ve probably used one of these patterns before, but if not, they are really easy to learn how to use and super helpful.

This pattern was created on http://friendship-bracelets.net/ You can create your own pattern on the generator here, and they also have some more info about using these patterns on the site. Go check them out!

Some tips to remember while making this bracelet:

Try to keep the tension, or tightness of the knots, consistent. If you tie the knots very tightly, it will result like the purple, blue, and periwinkle bracelet in the top image. This way, it will be less wide and will take longer to make. If the tension is kept on the loose side, it will be more like the one in the video. It will be wider and quicker to make. If you make a mistake, the knots will also be easier to pick out. Either way is fine – just try to stay consistent throughout the bracelet.

If you are using the pattern, you may want to keep a running tally to keep track of the row you are on so you don’t get lost.

For both directions of knots in this bracelet, the strings are supposed to switch places after the knot is tied, so they are in the right place for the next row.

If you are tying two strings of the same color together, it does not matter which direction of knot you tie.

New tutorial! This week we’re creating these heart shaped gift boxes out of paper! These are perfect to fill with candy or other small gifts. Great for Valentine’s day, anniversaries, Mother’s Day or birthdays!